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Debate: Should students rely on technology for their homework?
Today, students use ipods, ipads, phones, laptops, and different tablets to use the internet to help them with their homework. Don't know a word? Google it. Don't know the answer to this math problem? Use a calculator. And so on. Does this make sense?
Topics:
education technology
Hector Rosario
Cayla Gassaway
Pearce Cohen
As a student with access to technology, i feel that the only necessary times to use internet and other technological contraptions is when i haven't been taught the material I need to know. In Science i'll have to do homework and find out an equation for chemistry and I won't have the knowledge. I can easily access the computer and find my answer.
However i have many friends who use the internet to their advantage for example assignments. They just copy and past slabs of info from the net and hand in an assignment without so much as a nights work. Although the internet is one of the greatest things invented recently, it can still be an unreliable resource where some things are just plain wrong.
I do believe that the internet is terrific however can be used for the wrong reasons and not particularly correct sometimes.
Louise Nelson
knowledge, (remembering)
comprehension, (understanding)
application, (applying)
analysis, (analyzing)
synthesis, (creating the highest level in Anderson's update)
evaluation, (evaluating)
Yes, I found this on the web.
Most of the comments I've read only address the lowest level of cognitive activity - knowledge. Learning, to be of any use to the learner, at a minimum must get to the third level - understanding. To learn in a meaningful way - to develop the ability to use your own mind to manage your life and contribute to society requires the learner to actually exercise their own mind and develop not just knowledge, but understanding and the abilities to integrate new knowledge with what is already known and apply it to multiple different situations.
Or simply put, using technology as a learning aid can be helpful *if* students are required to do more than just collect information or harvest the results of others' efforts. Teachers have to demand that their students get beyond collecting information by giving assignments and guiding classroom exercises that require students to demonstrate understanding and synthesis of new information.
For example, a test question like "What's the state capitol of Maine?" signals students that all they need to do to pass tests is memorize facts. Questions like "Why does the US federal government have 2 houses of Congress?" or "What are some advantages and some disadvantages of having only 2 major political parties in the US?" signals students that they need to use facts that they've learned for purposes above and beyond just knowing something.
Reese Kolar
I really liked your final point about students using higher cognitive abilities than basic memorization (ie looking up on wikipedia). I agree that if the teachers learn to adapt to the technology appropriately we will get students who are better able to use creative thinking and problem solving to answer questions instead of just basic fact digging. I mean I think this could be easily compared to when calculators came out and people were worried about the fact that students wouldn't be able to do basic mathematics in their head, however that technology has allowed us to move past the basic drudge work and spend more time on the process of mathematical reasoning. Although I do sometimes feel helpless without a calculator, I won't lie... need to practice my times tables I guess.
christopher michaud
Daryl Roche
Our technologies are in their infancy and our educational systems ( and social systems ) are struggling to catchup and keep up. Technology does not teach critical thinking but can support it.
Education will be a moral, ethical, economic, and social imperative over the next 2 decades and technological innovation will not slow, turn, and look back to see what's keeping up, or not.
Max Baggerman
As a student myself, it makes sense that you can rely on technology for your homework, provided that you have an accurate source. But, I believe this question touches a far greater subject. That of creativity.
Creative processes and innovations occur when someone knows alot about different subjects and makes new connections between them. This often requires intrinsic knowledge about these subjects.
The availible information technology offers is great, but so much information will not lead to experts on specific subject, but rather to generalists with superficial knowledge about alot of subjects. Technology also withholds people from truely participating with the material, also reducing true understanding of the subject. This, and all the distraction an Ipod, phone, laptop or tablet offers, will reduce creativity and innovation.
So noone should rely on technology, but use technology to assist them.
Ruairidh McPherson
Akta Desai
Students should start learning, at a very young age the proper uses of technology and how to use it as a resource. Trying to teach students these skills in high school is tough because they often see technology as a toy.
Fred Mathieu
BTW I am Dyslexic as is my oldest son we were destroyed by the current system!
Marie Binney
I agree with you that in the workforce we have many resources available to use that we might not have had while in the classroom. The fact of the matter is that the classroom is a learning environment and not a real-world environment. Think about your classroom experiences for a moment, and compare them to your work environment. Do you currently have the opportunity to guess, contemplate or question your answers. I doubt you do because you are expected to have learned a certain set of skills by the time you are employed. The classroom is, or should, be a place of exploration and questioning.
When we deploy every piece of available technology we begin to diminish basic problem solving abilities in our children. Why think about it when I can just looking it up on Google or IM my buddy? Why actually learn math skills when I plug the numbers into my machine and watch the graphs appear? There is no need to learn to plot these graphs myself. I know many people see this as a waste of time, but these core skills are what teach our students how to solve problems, and letting technology do it for them is making them dumber.
As it relates to your specific issue, Fred, the system failed you. Your special learning needs should have been addressed by your individual educators. There is simply nothing else to be said about it. It has nothing to do with the use of technology, but rather the failure of your educators to notice an issue and manage it.
Fred Mathieu
When a student is asked to solve a problem or writing essay or read a book
if they used all available technology they still do come up with the answer
they still have to read the question-and-answer and with the technology the
questions and the problems could get much more difficult therefore the basic
elements and fundamentals will be learned in a format but much faster and their
ability to solve much more complicated problems a much earlier age will be
obviously enhance
It still amazes me that in this day and age the resistance of society to
utilize the next level of our evolution is so so resisted and entrenched in people like yourself
Fred Mathieu
Reza Ghiabi 50+
What students need to have is wisdom. But it's a good idea to know the references and reliability of the source.
Marie Binney
Why do children need an iPad or a computer to learn to multiply? Or to learn a simple history lesson? Or biology? Take the homework question out of the equation. Did many of us not learn these lessons from textbooks and highly qualified teachers? Computer skills are separate from these lessons; I don't deny their importance, but they are not fundamental to teaching the core of the English language, mathematics or science. In fact, computers are often an impediment to teaching children how to spell and write. The cost of education is skyrocketing while the quality is plummeting. Ask yourself why.
Sarah M
Encyclopedia Britannica has ceased to publish its encyclopedias. This is sad. They go to Wikipedia instead. The only problem with Wikipedia is anyone can contribute to it so it’s often inaccurate.
Google tells us everything so easily. We don’t have to research any more. We just type a couple of words and we get million of hits of information.
Some say handwriting will cease to exist within 10-15 years. http://hotword.dictionary.com/handwriting/
So much will be lost
Akta Desai
Ruairidh McPherson
dhara dhokia
calculators must not b the solution for calculations as one should develop skills to calculate fast and accurate......even if there are decimals in the calculation or if its metric calculations too.......
Laura McDonald
scott lee
It is a good thing to teach students how to access information on their own and become self learners. However, there is a certain foundation of education that is often required. If you are pursuing a career in engineering it is important to know how to access the relevant building codes you may need for a project. However, you should be comfortable with the physics behind it (You don't want to be teaching yourself Newtonian mechanics on the job).
The question to me is at what age should technology based homework begin? Will technology become an economic barrier to the public education of kids? Do kids learn better with computers of are they just too full of distractions?
Jonathan Gronli
Luis Javier Salvador 30+
But as I said, they should also learn to be as independent as possible, but if they don't learn to use technology to their advantage they will inevitably stay in an inferior position compared to others. I guess technology is like a smart big brother, can either spoil you or teach you properly, it's up to us to find the right balance.
Luis Belaunzaran
Ryan Johnson
My first take on this is that a lot of college courses now are online so students have to rely on technology in order to take the class. This has been very helpful for me and I love online courses.
My second take on this is that I believe students should crack open the textbook for papers and assignments from time to time instead of turning on the computer and typing in their question for google to figure it out for them
Dan Geurin 10+
Priyankar Kumar
Most students, including myself, are visual learners. I don't get the concepts until I am shown a few graphs, animations etc. At school, there is limited time and a lot to cover. So most teachers skip these parts thinking that they are not important from the examination point of view.So i turn to the net to understand the concept.
John Moonstroller 20+
As technology increasingly takes over jobs and provides commodities that are superior in quality the hand made products, we would expect to see a decrease in the need for educated people. This is what we are seeing today. If I want a product, depending on how complex that product is, I can probably have it manufacture without human hands ever touching it.
So, if we can use technology to solve all our problems, whey do we need educated people in the first place? Even most General practice doctors can't produce a diagnosis as well as computer software and a few technicians supervised by a nurse. Already the computer has replaced the great majority of workers in the office environment. CNC machines and automated assembly lines have already replaced a host of workers and craftsmen.
I'm afraid the trend is for smarter machines and not so smart people. The big question is how do we get rid of the unneeded people? How do we prevent them from reproducing? Bill Gates and his people have an answer for that questions. Viruses. Has anyone noticed how those simple colds we used to fight off and have increased in number each year and appear to last longer and longer?
Rajiv Srivastava
I differ with this idea of students rely on technology for home work. Home work is intended to make the kid work hard, which in turn, not only sharpen their skill set such as, analytical, reasoning or, verbal but also, help develop the overall personality. A help in completion of assignments won’t make the kid give his best to the problem. It’s like snatching the opportunity to explore himself/herself. One should face the problem head on, use his own caliber to come out of it – and homework gives that opportunity to become such a man in future. Remember, a hardship makes people stronger.
In summary, we need to build our kids stronger to face the varied challenges where technology should help in becoming a stronger person.
Lachlan Morland
Fritzie Reisner 100+
Feyisayo Anjorin 50+
So much has been change about the need to change the education system; but I think the mode of assessment should also be considered for change.
John Moonstroller 20+
Learning such things as Genetics is a simple task these days for those who really want to learn. For the others, It is an insurmountable task and always was for them during school. Some want to know while others simply want to exist. Engineering is still math intensive and there is no way around it.
I've tested the young people around me and they all know many facts but if you pose them with a question that demands logic and math, they fall on their face. What they don't know they can find out real fast these days but if you ask them to solve a problem they can't do it in a reasonable amount of time. The harder the problem, the more time it takes, the more frustrated they become. The amazing thing is how short a time it takes to get to the point of frustration than it used to take with more primitive educational tools.
I believe in the dummy down process as knowledge become even more available. You can pretty well judge how a child will end up in life from the video games they play and how they use their cell phones.
We are approaching a time when we will have to decide how we are going to decrease the population of this planet. Population culling is the only path to a Class I Civilization.
Sondos Abd Alaziz
There is no doubt that technology has made a drastic change in our life , nobody could deny that . Students now could tackle with plethora of obstacles which face them everyday , and that doesn't mean they will depend entirely on it and neglect their mind , they have to balance . in addition , it is lovely to take into our account the advantages from getting a lot of information easily and faster .
Ruben Cid
We shouldn't mix our goals with the ways we use to achieve them. Technology can help to be more productive but it's our willings and actions that define who we are and what we want to do in our life.
As a summary, the most important is that our kids / students want to learn how things work and how to improve them. If technology helps to achieve that goal, perfect!!